1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicle identification and location devices and, more particularly, to a vehicle-status device and system for remotely updating and locally indicating the status of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There are millions of cars and trucks operating on the road today. Local, state, and national governments attempt to control the licensing and operation of these vehicles in order to promote public safety and obtain revenue. In addition to the well known requirements for obtaining a driver""s license, state governments typically require that an annual registration fee be paid for each vehicle in order to maintain a current license for the vehicle. In addition, most states require that a safety inspection be performed on the vehicle each year by a state-approved inspection station. Many states have also passed laws requiring that drivers maintain a minimum level of liability insurance for each vehicle that they operate. In an effort to enforce these laws, drivers may be required to present proof of insurance for their vehicle at the time that they obtain a safety inspection or renew their registration.
There are still major problems in many states with drivers who do not comply with the above requirements. These drivers may forge vehicle registration stickers, safety inspection stickers, or proof-of-insurance papers. Alternatively, they may purchase insurance long enough to receive proof-of-insurance papers, and then cancel it shortly thereafter. These actions negatively impact public safety and increase the cost of insurance for all of the legitimate vehicle operators in the state.
Law enforcement personnel have an additional problem in identifying stolen vehicles. Some vehicles may be equipped with security systems which broadcast a location for the vehicle if the vehicle is started and/or driven without performing certain security functions. These security systems can assist the police in locating the stolen vehicle. Most vehicles, however, do not have such security systems, and even for ones that do, actual identification of the vehicle is still difficult. The police must visually read the license number and verify this number in their database.
In order to overcome the disadvantage of existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a vehicle-status device and system for remotely updating and locally indicating the status of a vehicle. Such a device would include an electronic vehicle-status indicator for use by law enforcement personnel to quickly and easily determine the status of any vehicle. The present invention provides such a device and system.
In one aspect, the present invention is a vehicle status device for displaying status information for a vehicle. The device includes a database of status information for the vehicle; an update receiver that receives updated vehicle information for storage in the database; an interrogation receiver that receives an interrogation signal from an interrogating unit; a vehicle status indicator for indicating the vehicle status information; and a processor that retrieves the vehicle status information from the database and sends the information to the indicator in response to the interrogation receiver receiving the interrogation signal. The vehicle status indicator may include a plurality of summary status indicators that provide a summary of the vehicle status in predetermined areas of interest at a glance, and a display that provides detailed vehicle status information.
In another aspect, the present invention is a vehicle status device for indicating status information for a vehicle and an owner of the vehicle. The device includes a database of status information for the vehicle and the owner, a wide area pager receiver that receives encoded updated vehicle and owner information from a wide area paging network, an interrogation receiver that receives an interrogation signal from the interrogating unit, and a vehicle status indicator for locally indicating vehicle and owner information. The device also includes a processor having a coder/decoder that decodes the updated information received from the wide area paging network and sends the decoded information to the database. In response to the interrogation receiver receiving the interrogation signal, the processor retrieves the information from the database and sends it to the status indicator.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is a system for remotely updating and locally displaying the status of a vehicle. The system includes a vehicle status device for locally displaying status information for the vehicle when an interrogation signal is received. The status device includes a database of status information for the vehicle; an update receiver that receives updated vehicle information for storage in the database; an interrogation receiver that receives the interrogation signal from an interrogating unit; and a vehicle status indicator for indicating the vehicle status information in response to the interrogation receiver receiving the interrogation signal. The system also includes an interrogating unit comprising an interrogation transmitter for transmitting the interrogation signal to the vehicle status device.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is an electronic vehicle status device for displaying status information for a vehicle. The device includes a wireless Internet access device that requests and receives updated vehicle information from at least one external database that is accessible through the Internet. The device also includes a vehicle status indicator for indicating the vehicle status information, and a processor that receives the vehicle status information from the wireless Internet access device and sends the information to the indicator.
In still yet another aspect, the present invention is a transponder for use in a vehicle having an assigned Internet Protocol (IP) address. The transponder comprises an interrogation receiver that receives an interrogation signal from an interrogating unit, and a response transmitter that transmits the assigned IP address to the interrogating unit. The transponder may be utilized in a system for remotely monitoring the status of the vehicle. In addition to the vehicle transponder, the system includes an interrogating unit that comprises an interrogation transmitter that transmits the interrogation signal to the vehicle transponder, a response receiver that receives the assigned IP address from the vehicle, and a wireless Internet access device that requests and receives updated vehicle status information from at least one external database that is accessible through the Internet.
The vehicle may also include a wireless Internet access device and an internal database for storing vehicle status information. In this case, the interrogating unit may utilize the IP address of the vehicle to retrieve the status information from the internal database in the vehicle, and download the information over the Internet.